FourPlay's members include brothers Tim Hollo (violin and viola) and Peter Hollo (cello), Lara Goodridge (violin and vocals) and Shenzo Gregorio (viola); former members include: Veren Grigorov (viola) & Chris Emerson (viola). Although all members of FourPlay had formal classical training, the band play an eccentric form of rock music, with subtle influences from three of the four band members' Jewish heritage (although FourPlay regard themselves as an Australian band above all else) as well as gypsy, pop, folk, hip-hop, electronica, post-rock, folktronica and many other forms.
History
FourPlay's first album, Catgut Ya' Tongue? was released in 1998, and featured mostly covers (of bands including Metallica and Depeche Mode, and the theme from Doctor Who), along with a few original compositions. In late 1999, Emerson left to get married in England and was replaced by Veren Grigorov. FourPlay released their second album, The Joy Of... in 2000, which included, among other things, a two-part dub/klezmer composition, a distortion-heavy cover of Pop Will Eat Itself's Ich Bin Ein Auslander, and a gypsy-style instrumental ending with a mass scream. This was followed, a year later (2001), by a 2-disc remix compilation, Digital Manipulation, featuring work by many Australian musicians, including Machine Translations, B(if)tek and Darrin Verhagen. FourPlay have also toured abroad extensively, and supported artists including george and The Whitlams.
The first movement is a fine example of twelve-tone study. Haunting melodies are interspersed with fragmented lines in all of the voice parts to create an almost schizophrenic range of emotions that seem to pile up upon one another. It's clear that the main focus of this movement is controlled sound play, which is different for most listeners who are accustomed to a more "Western" melodic or harmonic structure and focus.
Third movement
According to Crawford's analysis (requested by Edgard Varèse), and others', the third movement is a sound mass composition in which a single composite melody line consists of successive tones from the different instruments. This is accomplished through the equality of the instruments, indicated by their cramped register and the frequent vertical crossing of their parts, legato bowing (with dotted slurs indicating preferably inaudible bow changes), and the gradual crescendos and decrescendos which are staggered among the instruments, meaning that one instrument is at its loudest while another is at its quietest. Each voice climbs over the top of the others as they move to the movement's highest dynamics, register, and climax, at which point they "break apart" or split into a four octave range created from triple-stops on all instruments. A performance in line with this reading is that of the Composers Quartet 1973 recording (Nonesuch H-71280).
The String Quartet, Op. 3, by Alban Berg was composed in 1910. It was not published until 1920.
The two-movement quartet is among Berg's most original compositions. Reminiscent of Schoenberg's F# minor quartet, the sound owes more to Romanticism than to contemporary composers like Webern.
Along with the composer's Piano Sonata, it received its premiere on 24 April 1911 at the Vienna Musikverein.
The String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 was written in 1935–36 by Samuel Barber. Barber arranged the middle movement for string orchestra as his well-known Adagio for Strings in 1936. Barber continued to revise the piece, particularly the finale, until 1943.
Molto allegro e appassionato
Molto adagio [attacca]
Molto allegro (come prima)
Begun while living in Austria with his partner Gian Carlo Menotti after Barber's Prix de Rome, Barber intended that the quartet be premiered by the Curtis String Quartet, but did not finish the piece in time for their concert tour. On September 19, 1936, Barber wrote their cellist Orlando Cole: "I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today—it is a knockout! Now for a Finale." Having completed a finale, the string quartet was premiered in its provisional form by the Pro Arte Quartet on December 14, 1936, at the Villa Aurelia in Rome. Afterward Barber withdrew the finale so as to rewrite it, which he did by April, 1937. He rewrote it again before it was published. The final form was premiered by the Budapest Quartet on May 28, 1943, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
(Keighley, Biscuits. 3:48) You just can't mold me I'll be what I wanna be And I'll see what I wanna see Even if two plus two you means three you can't hold me You know my name You got my number I'm just a somethin You wanna put under When I'm a walkin Down the empty street You put up a barrier That I have to meet You send me a message You want me to stop The things I'm takin From what you got Your talk-talk-a-talkin Bout what I do But ya better stop pushin
Neil Gaiman and FourPlay StringQuartet – Signs of Life. Sydney-based string quartet FourPlay have made a name by playing versions of music by various rock and jazz artists, including Radiohead and ...
Next month Gaiman is bringing that voice to the Sydney Opera House, where he’ll be performing with the Australian string quartet FourPlay ... How a goth English novelist and an Australian string quartet ...
International bestselling author Neil Gaiman recently released his debut music album with the Australian indie band FourPlay StringQuartet... This isn't the first time that Gaiman and FourPlay collaborated for a project.
She’s fully committed to the bit ... “Pleasure is a right!” she shouts on that opening track, a nod to the album that kicked off this exciting new chapter for Ware ... • Neil Gaiman + FourPlay StringQuartet’s Signs Of Life ... • Paul B ... .
